6 Red Flags in Fort Hood Case

(Nov. 12) -- Hindsight is always 20/20, especially as investigators and reporters try to connect the dots following a tragedy as stunning as the Fort Hood massacre. In the week since the attack that left 13 dead, these possible warning signs about Maj. Nidal Hasan, the Army psychiatrist charged with killing his fellow soldiers, have come to light.

1. Colleagues and patients complained about his religious proselytizing
Hasan, who was about to be sent to Afghanistan, frequently claimed that the U.S. was waging war on Islam and argued that Muslims should not be sent to kill fellow Muslims. "He was very vocal about the war, very upfront about being a Muslim first and an American second," Dr .Val Finnell, a classmate at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in 2007, told Bloomberg. Finnell said in a Los Angeles Times interview that he complained to officials about Hasan's "anti-American rants" and "really questioned his loyalty." Hasan's supervisors received so many complaints about his preaching to patients that he was reprimanded, the newspaper said.
Get details from The Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg

2. Fellow psychiatrists wondered about Hasan's mental health
Hasan's behavior during the six years he worked at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., became so disturbing that hospital officials began discussing in the spring of 2008 whether he was psychotic, according to NPR. One official reportedly wondered aloud to colleagues whether Hasan might be capable of killing fellow soldiers.
Get details from NPR

3. Hasan had been on terrorism watchdogs' radar
Two joint terrorism task forces reportedly began monitoring Hasan in December because he sent e-mails as many as 20 times to a radical Islamic cleric in Yemen. The imam, Anwar al-Awlaki, has a large following among jihadists online. The Washington Post said a Pentagon analyst concluded the e-mails were in keeping with Hasan's research and did not pose a threat.
Get details from The Washington Post

4. He attended the same mosque as two 9/11 hijackers
Anwar al-Awlaki was a prayer leader at Dar al Hijrah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Va., in early 2001. Investigators said Sept. 11 hijackers Hani Hanjour and Nawaf al-Hamzi attended the mosque about the same time, as did Hasan. However, it is one of the largest mosques in the United States, and senior federal law enforcement official said there was no immediate evidence of a link to terrorism, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Get details from The Los Angeles Times and New York Daily News

5. He allegedly expressed sympathy for terrorists online
Six months ago, investigators found messages posted on the Internet under Hasan's name that expressed sympathy for suicide bombers, a federal official told The Washington Post. They didn't pursue the matter because they couldn't confirm the Army psychiatrist was the one who wrote the postings.
Get details from The Washington Post

6. Hasan might have financial ties to Pakistan
A Republican congressman has revealed there could be a money trail that leads to terrorists, the Dallas Morning News reported Thursday. Investigators are looking into whether Hasan wired money to Pakistan in recent months, said Michigan Republican Pete Hoekstra. If true, Hoekstra said, that could be evidence of a connection between Hasan and militant Islamic groups.
Get details from The Dallas Morning News